Building the Knowledge Base for City Action on Climate

Transcription

1 Building the Knowledge Base for City Action on Climate Cynthia Rosenzweig Ciudades Sostenibles y Cambio Climatico Lima, Peru September 17, 2014

2 Temperature Change 2050s and UCCRN Member Cities (35 CMIP5 models) 2

3 Catalytic Role of the Urban Climate Change Research Network Complementary international sustainable urban development efforts Financial and solutionsbased support for stateof-the-knowledge assessment International Development Agencies Cities in developing and developed countries Urban Climate Change Research Network Countries City Networks UCLG, Metropolis, C40, ICLEI Source of innovation and clients for knowledge dissemination Information needed for federal level support for adaptation and mitigation Catalytic Role of the Urban Climate Change Research Network Durban Adaptation Charter, Civil Society, Private Sector, Foundations... 3

4 Urban Climate Change Research Network UCCRN Mission: Enable cities to fulfill their climate change leadership potential in both mitigation and adaptation Consortium of 500+ scholars and practitioners from <100 developed and developing cities Major publication First UCCRN Assessment Report on Climate Change and Cities (ARC3), a four-year effort by 100 authors from 50+ cities Second UCCRN Assessment Report on Climate Change and Cities (ARC3-2), in process, to be published by COP 2015 (Cover TBD) 4

5 UCCRN ARC3-2 Chapters Cross-Cutting Themes Durban Adaptation Charter for Local Governments as adopted on the 4 th December 2011 of the occasion of the Durban Local Convention: adapting to a changing climate - towards COP17/CMP7 and beyond - 1. Mainstreaming adaptation as a key informant of all local government development planning Urban Climate Science Environmental Equity and Justice Mitigation and Adaptation Cross-Cutting Themes; Housing and Informal Settlements Ecosystems, Biodiversity, and Ecosystem Services; Water and Wastewater Economics and Finance Mitigation and Adaptation Governance UCCRN/ARC3 2. Understand climate risks through conducting impact and vulnerability assessments 3. Prepare and implement integrated, inclusive and long-term local adaptation strategies designed to reduce vulnerability 4. Ensure that adaptation strategies are aligned with mitigation strategies 5. Promote the use of adaptation that recognises the needs of vulnerable communities and ensures sustainable local economic development 6. Prioritise the role of functioning ecosystems as core municipal green infrastructure 7. Seek the creation of direct access to funding opportunities 8. To develop an acceptable, robust, transparent, measureable, reportable and verifiable (MRV) register 9. Promote multi-level and integrated governance and advocate for partnerships with subnational and national governments on local climate action 10. Promote partnerships at all levels and city-to-city cooperation and knowledge exchange CLIMATE PROTECTION BRANCH 5

6 Cities have Experience in Responding to Climate-related Disasters Key lessons Climate disasters are product of interactions between natural processes and human interactions Cities on front lines experiencing the power of climate disruption on citizens Hurricane Sandy, October 2012, New York Preparedness is paramount Climate change will increase these risks Box 3.5, ARC3,

7 Hurricane Sandy Storm Itself Storm timing coincided almost exactly with astronomically high, high tide Tropical-storm-force winds extended 1,000 miles from end to end, making it more than three times the size of Hurricane Katrina Storm surge combined with high tide created a storm tide of over 14 feet above Mean Lower Low Water at the Battery, highest water level on record Sandy followed an unusual storm track, turning sharply west just as it was reaching another peak of intensity SIRR, 2013 CCSR, 2013 Storm Forecast Well In Advance 7

8 Hurricane Sandy New York City Impacts 44 deaths, 80%from drowning Major flooding 7 subway lines under East River, 3 tunnels closed 90,000 buildings in the inundation zone ~2 million without power ~$19 billion in damage Unforeseen impacts included gas shortages, hospital evacuations, and fires SIRR, 2013 Many impacts forecast well in advance South Ferry Subway Station, Manhattan December 12, 2012 Source: D. Bader 8

9 Flexible Adaptation Pathways Climate change adaptation as a risk management issue Flexible Adaptation Pathways as the response Source: Yohe and Leichencko NPCC,

10 Some Lessons Learned Emerging findings show importance of community groups in immediate disaster response 2. Hurricane Sandy grounded, reinforced, and expanded the NYC flexible adaptation approach 3. Metropolitan region approach needed: The Tale of Two States and One City 4. Federal, state, and municipal agencies are struggling to coordinate on scenarios 5. Every city needs Science in place... Science in time Hurricane Sandy as Tipping Point 10

11 Best Practices for Metropolitan Regions Leadership Set explicit goals by high-level metropolitan region leaders in regard to development of climate resilience Coordination Create liaison office that organizes the interactions between the relevant groups throughout the region Climate Information Use latest scientific data and methods available Civil Society Identify community needs and want Implementation Create partnerships among municipal, state, national, and international bodies for financing. 11

12 Key Players in Metropolitan Resilience (1) Key Player Governments Citizen Groups Roles and Responsibilities Roles: Lead City, Metropolitan Region Municipal, State, and National Governments Responsibilities: Establishing councils, commissions, and task forces; coordinating key groups; conducting local risk assessments; setting policies and funding large-scale investments and projects Roles: Grass-roots efforts in individual metropolitan regions; local chapters of international organizations; local non-profit groups engaged in community efforts Responsibilities: Information gathering for metropolitan planners and decision-makers; information dissemination to public; assessing social vulnerabilities UCCRN,

13 Key Players in Metropolitan Resilience (2) Roles: Managing critical metropolitan region infrastructure Infrastructure Managers Responsibilities: Developing and implementing resilience planning to protect against climate events Roles: Insurance companies; utility providers; other businesses Private Sector Knowledge Providers Responsibilities: Designing, planning, and executing implementation of resilience measures and adaptation strategies; ensuring compliance with new regulations Roles: Academics from universities, government agencies, and private sector research groups Responsibilities: Co-generating climate risk information with decision-makers; tailoring information to the needs of individual metropolitan regions; communicating climate risk information and uncertainties to decision-makers and the public 13

14 Portfolio Approach to Resilience Actions Policy Social Interactions Engineering Ecosystembased strategies Policy, social, engineering, and ecosystems interact to respond to changing climate and coastal hazards. Overlapping areas illustrate opportunities for adaptation and resilience strategies that combine components of each domain. UCCRN,

15 References and Links Urban Climate Change Research Network ( Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast ( NYSERDA ClimAID ( New York City Panel on Climate Change report available online at ( 15

16 16